tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35302322024-03-13T23:53:33.551-07:00Mr & Mrs GigsOne married couple goes to a lot of gigs in London. Now we blog about them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-71711271672659330272016-04-18T01:37:00.001-07:002016-04-18T01:37:43.598-07:00Record store day and the demise of BowieApologies again for the lack of writing. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans, to quote John Lennon. We went and visited Strawberry Fields in NYC when we were there recently. It's a good idea to keep people away from the Dakota, methinks. We also visited our pals at <a href="http://ltcds.com/" target="_blank">Looney Tunes</a>, along with a few DC stores. Nice to see John, Carl Jr, Ryan and the gang. <br />
For those living in caves, <a href="http://recordstoreday.co.uk/home/" target="_blank">International Record Store Day</a> was on Saturday 16 April. For our household, it's like Christmas for Mr. He spends weeks poring over the lists of releases, and then can barely sleep the night before the early morning, when he springs out of bed. So cute how he gets all excited. This year, it was <a href="http://www.actionrecords.co.uk/" target="_blank">Action Records</a> up in Preston. He was there at 6:11am, and was 32nd on the queue. He got most of his wants, including the all-important David Bowie ones.<br />
Which was another sad thing that occurred since I last blogged. I actually see the man's face every morning when I emerge from the bedroom (he's on the wall in our hallway) and I still can't kind of get my head around the fact that he's no longer alive. It was quite a frenzy back in January, with us taking condolences from friends and family alike. I had to remind a few people that no, we didn't actually know him, and he's not related to us. It was sad and we'll miss him, but I have no doubt that his re-releasing of box sets will go on forever. We went to a V&A showing of a film on the Bowie exhibition the week after his death, and it was kind of like being at a memorial service. Fitting, in a way. <br />
One of the channels also treated the British public to a showing of Labyrinth shortly after his demise. Holy hat, that, along with just about every other movie the man starred in, was evidence that Bowie's talent lay in music.<br />
<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-62017796247557856722015-04-15T03:14:00.002-07:002015-04-15T03:15:27.873-07:00Not so out of reach - Gabrielle at East Wintergarden, 14 AprilShowing our age here with the visit to Canary Wharf to see 90s songstress <a href="http://www.gabrielle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Gabrielle</a>. She was fab. Despite the passages of 20 years since Mr Gig saw her at Shepherd's Bush Empre, she still has an exceptional voice. "Out of Reach" has to be one of my personal favourite songs. By the end of the hour-long show, everyone was up on their feet despite the "cabaret" seating at the <a href="http://canarywharf.com/east-wintergarden/" target="_blank">East Wintergarden</a> location. Rise indeed! <br />
Probably the only niggle I had was with the audience. Must you grab the woman who is singing her heart out's hand, and then turn away to your companion for a widely-grinning selfie? It seems kind of rude to me. But maybe I'm just an old grump. It must be a thing now. <br />
Further points in Gabrielle's favour (not that she needs them). She also happily posed for photos with Mr and signed his vinyl records after the show. <br />
The location itself was a bit corporate as it is in Canary Wharf, but the people running it were tops. I also liked the easy access to the food court two levels below. We went and had an Itsu noodle pot before the show.<br />
Since we're in easy reach of the place, we'd be happy to go to more local gigs like this one. The wine was also reasonable and decent. East Wintergarden, add more dates! <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leddrachapman" target="_blank">Leddra Chapman</a> opened up. She has a pretty soprano voice, but probably the main complaint is that she was a bit shy and didn't connect with the audience. She chatted between songs but we were all quiet. Perhaps it was actually the audience that was a bit shy. Still, nice tunes. She also happily signed her CD. Which I will listen to again.<br />
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Stars out of 10: I'd give it a 9. Venue is tops, and Gabrielle is tops. Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-5414396765631654252014-11-12T03:18:00.002-08:002014-11-12T03:18:35.950-08:00Ben Watt Trio - Village Underground 10 NovemberHaven't blogged in a while so I thought I'd get back to it. Been busy lately. Mr and I headed to the <a href="http://villageunderground.co.uk/" target="_blank">Village Underground</a> off Shoreditch High Street. Normally we head to <a href="http://roughtrade.com/" target="_blank">Rough Trade East,</a> which is also nearby. Then bagels. But not Monday.<br />
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<a href="http://benwatt.com/" target="_blank">Ben Watt</a>, one half of 80s and 90s pop sensation <a href="http://benwatt.com/about" target="_blank">Everything But the Girl</a>, was performing hits old and new with Bernard Butler (guitarist from Suede) and Martin Ditcham, who has drummed for the likes of Talk Talk.<br />
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So it was a mashup of my teenage years, but with a twist. Everybody else there was kind of on the same page too. When I mentioned Ben Watt to my 20-something co-worker, she had no idea who I was talking about. I am getting used to this feeling. <br />
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<a href="http://www.michaelchapman.co.uk/" target="_blank">Mike Chapman</a> opened up. We missed the first act. His name was not Mark Chapman as Mr erroneously reported to me earlier in the evening. He did not look like someone who would shoot anyone, much less a president. He played with his eyes shut, which was a bit distracting. He said he sometimes is alarmed when they come up on stage while he has his eyes shut. I can't see why anyone would wander up on stage uninvited, but apparently <a href="http://showaddywaddy.net/" target="_blank">Shawaddywaddy</a> actively encourages it. Mike looked like he didn't need any help from us so we stayed where we were. Vaguely New Orleans-style guitar strumming. <br />
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Ben Watt's performance was one of those 90 minutes of tunes that just fly by. There were several songs from his new album Hendra, plus a sprinkling of EBTG tunes and other songs he has done. I really enjoyed it and sang along with the few tunes I did know from the olden days.<br />
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Afterwards, the band were available for autographs, which was good. I got a photo of Mr with Bernard and we went home. A very satisfactory outing to my musical past.<br />
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Music: 8<br />
Atmosphere: 8. Good venue, this one.<br />
Beer: Never had a <a href="http://hobobeerandco.co.uk/about/" target="_blank">Hobo</a> before, but it was an acceptable brew. Fizzy.Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-35649442199789721122013-07-05T03:18:00.003-07:002013-07-05T03:19:26.417-07:00Nell Bryden, Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush - 17 MayI have been meaning to blog about her but have instead been feeling guilty when I keep playing <a href="http://nellbryden.com/" target="_blank">Nell Bryden</a> third album, Shake the Tree, over and over in my car. We saw her at Bush Hall on May 14 and it was excellent. The songs she writes are very evocative of Manhattan. Her voice is a nice combination of Annie Lennox and Eva Cassidy.<br />
Sorry for not reporting back sooner... I was on vacation, the cat ate my homework... <br />
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Marks out of 10: 8 Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-34866889023797862502013-04-25T09:18:00.001-07:002013-04-25T09:18:55.160-07:00Veronica Falls, Islington Assembly Rooms - 23 AprilMr went to see this band a while ago with another friend, and since I had never been to the <a href="http://www.islington.gov.uk/assemblyhall/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">assembly rooms</a> I was happy to go along this time. Would recommend the venue - the toilets in particular are old-school in a good way and everything is very well-maintained. Also, the beverages were not extortionate - £4 for a cider is a reasonable sum.<br />
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Veronica Falls must be popular with Lond's ageing hipster crowd, as there were a lot of them there. She says, with her brown plastic framed glasses. <br />
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We got there in time for one of the opening acts, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thecometgain" target="_blank">Comet Gain</a>. A collection of haircuts from the 60s - one of the guys looked like the blonde one from the Monkees, although he didn't look as fresh-faced.They were kind of toe-tapping but I couldn't remember any of the song names. <br />
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<a href="http://www.myspace.com/veronicafallshard" target="_blank">Veronica Falls</a> came on and provided the discussion for the evening, which was: why the bass player does not have a microphone. It looked odd. She sat over in the corner and played the bass. Occasionally she'd look out at the audience while the other three got to sing over the fairly grindy guitars and the drums. At one point I thought they were singing van houten credit card, but in reality it was dearly departed. Which is actually the song called Found Love in a Graveyard.<br />
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Ah well. Marks out of 10:<br />
Venue: 9, although it is a bit of a trek from the tube/train. Plus there's lots of trendy places to eat/drink nearby<br />
Band: 6. They were ok. Maybe if they give the poor bass player a microphone I'll up the number<br />
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<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-78625825524259299082013-02-10T08:52:00.002-08:002013-02-10T08:52:35.183-08:00Rebekah Delgado, Water Rats - 6 FebruarySorry for the delay in posting. Christmas and then we just didn't see much in January. I mean, I got to the panto at Greenwich Theatre but not much else. Saw Florence and the Machine at the O2. Love the woman, but the venue's too big for her.<br />
So, Mr won tickets to <a href="http://www.rebekah-delgado.com/store/rebekah-delgado-water-rats-e-tickets/" target="_blank">Rebekah Delgado's</a> gig at the <a href="http://www.fancyapint.com/Pub/london/water-rats/551" target="_blank">Water Rats</a> by Kings Cross. Good little venue, decent beers too. Rebekah had a couple of fellow artists on the bill: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SheMakesWar" target="_blank">She Makes War</a>, a bubbly blonde who had a good voice. She also played the ukelele, which always wins points in my book. Another plus was the loudhailer she walked around the audience with. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/danielland" target="_blank">Daniel Land</a> started the evening. He had a good voice but we only caught his last number and he seemed to keep his eyes shut. Plus, he left the Modern Painters at home. Maybe he fell out with them. <br />
At any rate, there seemed to be a bit of an electrical problem with SMW's set so Rebekah allowed her to do a few more songs, which were all pretty entertaining. As a result, I think Rebekah's set ran a bit short. She's got some new musicians but the musical saw woman is still on board. The venue was not big and there were a lot of music geeks there. Ms Delgado came over to us and said hi, and when she asked how I liked the gig, I said, it was good! A bit short.<br />
I mean, really. A bit short? It was FREE. She looked somewhat stricken but recovered. She did play her Spanish song, and Embrace Moi and We all need Someone, so I shouldn't have really complained. An enjoyable evening as usual.Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-79863428456820145362012-11-11T11:45:00.000-08:002012-11-12T01:18:41.790-08:00Huey and the New Yorkers, Bush Hall - 7 NovemberThis is the gig where we finally met Huey. One of my favourite people in the world from NY has been trying to get us to meet Huey since he moved over here. Think he lives in Leicester or something. The last time <a href="http://funlovincriminals.tv/" target="_blank">Fun Lovin' Criminals</a> played in London, we went to see them at Koko. The attempts to get in touch were foiled by a hurricane or something. I swear, I don't miss that season in NY. And now there's another one. It's terrible.<br />
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At any rate, we went along to his <a href="http://www.musictrespass.com/content/light/live-review/huey-and-new-yorkers" target="_blank">album launch</a> at Rough Trade Records East a couple of weeks ago and met him ourselves. Even brought Jr, which meant that I didn't actually get to see the numbers he played off his new album. I did meet him afterwards, as he and Jr posed for photos. Jr's a ham. We left because I was starving and a corned beef bagel was calling to me. It's a hazard around that area. <br />
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So, we get to Bush Hall, and it's pretty full. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/HueyAndTheNewYorkers" target="_blank">Huey and the NYers</a> are just coming on. It's a decent sized band - guitarists: Chris, King, Na'im; the keyboardist and the drummer. The drummer's Frank from FLC. The keyboardist is Pete, who I will keep confusing Frank with later.They look nothing alike. I had been drinking.<br />
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The band were definitely out for a good time, and wound up taking the audience with them. All the songs, even if you don't know the lyrics, have you singing along by the end of them, and they are very danceable. He started out with Stick it to the Man and got sentimental with Christmas by the Side of the Road. He also sang a few standards. Chris had some good guitar solos, and Peter was a whizz on the keyboards. The band came out for two encores and I think we would've been there all night, but as one of the guys said, that's all the songs we know. But that is most definitely untrue. They must know more songs. I know they do. <br />
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At any rate, we stayed for one more beer after the show, and that was probably an error on my part. Mr wandered off and came back with after show party tickets, and instead of saying, oh no, we have to get the train and we have a babysitter... I said, great! let's go. So we went upstairs.<br />
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Now, I am not much of a drinker anymore and I had a few. Then one more over my personal limit. So, poor Huey and the boys were subjected to drunken Mrs. I was surrounded by people from NY - more specifically, Manhattan. These people are like baby pigeons.They must exist, but you never actually see any. Everyone moves to NYC or lives in the outer boroughs, in my experience. It was nice to hear their accents. I had a weird sense of being back in New York, just for one evening. Talking about the election and Hurricane Sandy.<br />
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At any rate, I must now publicly apologise for thinking Huey's full name is Hubert instead of the actual and more probable Hugh. And generally making a nuisance of myself at the party. But they seemed very cheerful and gracious as a bunch. It was too much fun and I paid for it the next day. As my co-worker said, "On a school night!" Yep. Ow.<br />
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Marks out of 10: this was definitely a 9.5. Huey and the gang have continued FLC's tradition of making sure they tear the roof off any venue they play in. A great night out. On a Wednesday!Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-54863894354718546462012-10-22T14:36:00.000-07:002012-10-22T14:36:16.298-07:00Rebekah Delgado, Bush Hall - 17 October"We all need someone, yes we do..." <a href="http://www.rebekah-delgado.com/" target="_blank">Rebekah Delgado</a> needs a lot of people with her, on stage. Yes she does. At least the two times I've seen her, once supporting Alice Gold and last week for her hugely entertaining launch show. At Bush Hall. One of my personal favs. And it all fit so well. You'd think the loads of people with her would fall off the stage, but they all seem really comfortable up there. Plus, the audience joins in. See? <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just Rebekah, and a few of her friends and fellow musicians.</td></tr>
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We came in, they crossed us off the guest list, and caught the last few numbers of supporting act <a href="http://www.myspace.com/tomhickox" target="_blank">Tom Hickox</a>. He has a voice like the lead singer from the <a href="http://www.crashtestdummies.com/#/home" target="_blank">Crash Test Dummies</a>. Once again I show my age with that reference. But they still have a website so they're still out there. Very good tunes, Mr. Hickox.<br />
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After a suitable lull, Rebekah came on with her gang. I like this trend where where they break the set in half and then we don't all have to clap like idiots to get them to come out for an encore. Plus, we could see from the programme that it was going to happen. The hall was by no means packed, and the emcee had to encourage all us shy audience members to come forward for better viewing of the musicians. So we did. Mr says it was as if all her friends and family showed up, plus us 10 fans.<br />
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That being said, who missed the crowd? Not us. We were having a good time. We sang along, we clapped, and then the interval occurred and these puppet people and an accordionist came around with cupcakes! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cupcakes handed out, the puppet dances</td></tr>
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Cupcakes at a gig! They were from <a href="http://www.upsydaisybakery.com/" target="_blank">Upsy Daisy Bakery</a>, which according to their website has won cupcake of the year or something. The cakes were quite tasty, IMHO, but Mr likes his cupcakes ith less icing, so we agree to disagree. I did notice that he finished his cupcake, however. It had lemon curd inside it. Mmmm.<br />
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But what a deal. A concert and a cupcake. They should do that more often. And then, we had an acrobat. Why not? <br />
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After that, the second half. Another singalong. Her songs are very catchy. And then we went home. It was fab. A true night of entertainment.<br />
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Marks out of 10: 9, definitely. If you don't know her music, go along and watch the lady on stage play the muscial saw. Or the puppets dance. Next time there will have to be a dancing bear. RD knows what we want - cupcakes and circuses. And delivers it. Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-45425399301039150052012-10-06T02:06:00.001-07:002012-10-06T02:06:32.488-07:00Ellie Goulding, Jazz Cafe - 5 OctoberI'm sorry <a href="http://elliegoulding.com/" target="_blank">Ellie Goulding</a>, it wasn't your fault. You sang your little heart out and turned out very good renditions of your tunes. Your band delivered. I can only blame what must have been the worst gig for me personally for the year, on the venue and the audience members. Your set was one hour and 10 minutes long, and yet it seemed like years.<br />
Mr and I were fairly enthused about seeing you again - we went to see you at <a href="http://planetmusicreviews.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/ellie-goulding-heaven-15th-april-2010/" target="_blank">Heaven</a> a couple of years ago, and it was great. You put on a good show. But this time at <a href="http://venues.meanfiddler.com/jazz-cafe/home" target="_blank">Jazz Cafe</a>, we spent most of that hour and 10 making way for people to go back and forth, and up the stairs to the "VIP" area. It was pretty squashed, and people just could not seem to stay put. You mentioned that it was like having a gig in your living room. Nope, it was like watching a gig on a rush hour tube platform. <br />
At one point I wanted to yell, can't you people sit here and watch her for a measly 3 minutes, while she sings a song? I wanted to see one song without having to squish myself against the wall. No luck. Even the guy with the quiff (think it might have been the new <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mvzzc/The_Radio_1_Breakfast_Show_with_Nick_Grimshaw_With_Conor_Maynard/" target="_blank">Radio 1 morning guy</a>, or maybe that one off <a href="http://www.russellkane.co.uk/" target="_blank">BBC3 who's the comedian</a>) kept going back and forth. Yikes.<br />
So you tried, but we were also distracted by the people who thought it a good idea to talk through your entire set. Mr tried to shush them, and then one guy got so frustrated he told them to go f*ck off. It was bad language, Ellie. The rest of us agreed with the guy. After about 45 minutes of this, Mr and I admitted defeat and watched the rest of your show sideways through the bar area. I thanked the chattering morons and told them they were a great audience as we went out. <br />
In the future, we will be avoiding your gigs unless there's seating, or we get there when the doors open. Mr suggested the Empire might be a good one for you. You can fill it now. And enjoy New York. Hope there's more room there. <br />
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Marks out of 10: 4. Not your fault, Ellie. You were definitely a 9, singing. <br />
Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-82252921384222101402012-09-21T07:21:00.002-07:002012-09-21T07:22:36.920-07:00Woody Guthrie celebration feat. Billy Bragg - 16 SeptemberMr and I were again back at Southbank for a show last Sunday. This time, Billy Bragg and his special guests were celebrating Woody Guthrie's legacy. As Billy himself <a href="http://www.billboard.com/news/exclusive-billy-bragg-on-woody-guthrie-3rd-1006404752.story#/news/exclusive-billy-bragg-on-woody-guthrie-3rd-1006404752.story" target="_blank">says</a>, he's not sure how he got the job of putting Guthrie's words to music, but if you've ever heard <a href="http://www.woodyguthrie.org/merchandise/mermaidavenuevol1.htm" target="_blank">Mermaid Avenue</a>, he did a good job of it, IMHO.<br />
And that album introduced me to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/wilco" target="_blank">Wilco</a>, which is quite an excellent band to drive to. Live, they have too many guitar solos for my taste, but Mr actually likes long guitar solos so we agree to disagree on this point.<br />
So, here were all were at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Prompt, because it struck us as that kind of gig. The first up was <a href="http://www.gracepetrie.com/" target="_blank">Grace Petrie</a>, who BB said was following in his footsteps or something like that. She was very personable and got the audience on-side with her banter.<br />
She played a few protest songs: Maggie Thatcher's Dream is one of the tunes. I keep thinking, after 20-odd years, don't we have any new Conservative bogeymen? Thatcher's pretty much done to death. Surely someone can come up with a decent protest song about the strangely large foreheaded David Cameron.<br />
But never mind, five songs and she was off, with much applause. Then, <a href="http://www.joehenrylovesyoumadly.com/" target="_blank">Joe Henry</a> was up. The liveliest he got was when he was singing Woody Guthrie songs. Which was kind of the point. He had a nice voice but not a load of charisma.<br />
After a decent interval, the man himself arrived on stage. Billy produced an amiable set and kept the audience entertained with Woody songs. My Flying Saucer is a personal favourite. The other two then joined him onstage, which was the highlight of the whole show. They all have very good voices and it ended the show on a high note.<br />
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Marks out of 10: 7.5, up and down, but mostly up. Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-16616129716292431692012-09-13T13:48:00.000-07:002012-09-17T09:28:05.749-07:00Fascinating Aida, Southbank - 12 SeptemberLeft Mr at home for this one because he's not into comedy singing, it seems. Wanda bought the tickets and Martina came along as well. So it was all good fun. We didn't realise it was actually at that summer-only setup on the <a href="http://www.southbanklondon.com/" target="_blank">Southbank</a>. I've never been there before. I thought it was a carnival, and they do have some rides nearby. We did spend a bit of time wandering around looking for the ticket office, and then we found it, <a href="http://www.suchsmallportions.com/news/underbelly-launch-london-wonderland-southbank-2012" target="_blank">Wonderland</a>. Just went the wrong way on the riverside. We had a drink outside at the bar (brrr! autumn is here) and then went into the Spiegeltent, which was kind of a posh one. Had booths and everything. <br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc" target="_blank">Fascinating Aida</a> has been going for 30 years. As Wanda said, you know they're good when they've been going that long - they're entertainers. She wasn't wrong. They started off the show with a song about the current bank issues. Part of the fun was the fact that these lovely women with lovely voices were using a very rude word or three. Just a good time.<br />
Their famous song is Cheap Flights, which is a howler. I also quite enjoyed Down with the Kids. I resisted the urge to roll on the floor laughing.<br />
Afterwards, we had another G&T while the ladies signed CDs and so forth for appreciative audience members. A fun night.<br />
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Marks out of 10: 8. Not everyone's cup of tea, but perfect if you want to hear a lot of good singing and very clever lyrics. That's entertainment!Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-65002309854312800462012-09-12T07:00:00.001-07:002012-09-12T07:10:04.454-07:00Equestrian, Sitting Volleyball, Athletics & Goalball, plus Tennis: 1-2, 8 SeptemberI am sorry for the delay in posting this, I have been busy being a complete Paralympics freak. On 1-2 September Mr and I dragged Jr and friend Gavin (he of Olympics fame) back and forth to various venues: Greenwich Park for equestrian, ExCel for sitting volleyball, and to the Olympic Park for athletics and goalball.<br />
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We saw three medals - <a href="http://www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk/news.aspx?strArticle=gb-para-drives-bronze" target="_blank">Natasha Baker's</a> gold in dressage, then a gold for Aled Davies in discus and the silver for Stef Reid in the long jump. Also watched strong contender Bosnian Herzegovina's match in <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/news/bosnia-and-herzegovina-book-their-place-mens-sitting-volleyball-final" target="_blank">sitting volleyball</a>, beating Brazil. Apparently Iran is the team to beat in men's volleyball. The US at least won out over Slovenia for the women's match.<br />
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The athletics stadium on Sunday was excellent. Loads of photos of us with the torch and so forth. Jr was less than impressed with it all although the wheelchair racing interested him. They had to shoo us out of the stadium. <br />
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I liked goalball myself, which we popped into afterwards. Algeria beat Canada. Algerian supporters ran to the edge of the stand to high five the team afterwards, but of course they missed him. The coach got them to come back and high five the guys. Pretty funny! I can see myself playing goalball as I am pretty blind myself.<br />
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The next Saturday was tennis. We had an excellent time and Mr got photos and autographs with Jr of the tennis gold medallists. I will try and download some. It was also a lovely day out, sunny and warm. We sat at the very top of the stands and ate lunch while watching some amazingly adept tennis on wheels. The women's doubles were particularly impressive.<br />
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We then walked back through the Olympic park with all the twinkling lights, high fiving the gamesmakers as we left Eton Manor. <br />
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But now it's all over. Sob.<br />
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Marks out of 10: Like Spinal Tap, it goes up to 11. Thought the Olympics were excellent, and the Paralympics were just as good. Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-68444980494593074162012-08-31T06:36:00.000-07:002012-08-31T06:36:20.923-07:00Low Anthem, Bush Hall - 29 August<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Righty, it's back to gigs until we go to the <a href="http://www.paralympics.org.uk/gb" target="_blank">Paralympics</a> this weekend and next. Just for the record, I think <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/27/paralympics-us-games-media-interest?newsfeed=true" target="_blank">NBC </a>in the US not showing much coverage is a disgrace but then again I am now spoiled by TV with little or no advertising so don't ask me. Only that the Times had a photo of an American paralympian on its front page this morning. Shame the Americans can't get to see the action live.<br />
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Ok, the gig the other night at Bush Hall. We went to the concert instead of staying in and watching the opening ceremony, but still caught the end, which seemed to be a decent bit. Unfortunately, I think I have opening and closing ceremony burnout. Found it a little odd with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005212/bio" target="_blank">Ian McKellan</a> waving his arms around. Though I did get a little teary when the guy came flying down with the torch.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lowanthem.com/site/" target="_blank">The Low Anthem</a> was the top act, <a href="http://maiatheband.com/" target="_blank">Maia the Band,</a> the opening act. We caught one song the opener played, which seemed reasonably foot tapping. I like <a href="http://www.bushhallmusic.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bush Hall</a>. It is a lovely venue and they don't really screw you over the price of a beer. £3.80 is a fairly reasonable price for a beer at a concert.<br />
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Unfortunately, I just wasn't crazy about the band. The lead singer (Mat Davidson?) came on wearing a <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wifebeater" target="_blank">wifebeater</a> and sang like Bob Dylan (see above). Not bad. But the songs didn't grab me. I also find it strange when he had to basically explain the premise of the song before they sang it. I thought, isn't that what the song is for?<br />
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The female singer Jocie Adams had a decent voice and seemed to spend most of the time staring intently at Mat (except in the photo, of course). I also thought that she'd be a better lead singer than him. Mr said I was just being a crab.<br />
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The one time I did toe tap a bit was when they covered a song by Joni Mitchell. Shortly after that, I went and stood at the back of the hall because it was hot. Then Mr joined me and we went upstairs to the terrace for another beer. Had a peek out at the concert again, they were doing some kind of whirling thing with this butterfly contraption they had over the stage. Strobe light effect. It seemed to add nothing. <br />
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We left before the end, which is tres unusual for us.<br />
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Marks out of 10: a Low 4. Like watching your friend's band, but they're not that great. Lucky for us we didn't have to hang around afterwards and say, yeah, that bit with the butterflies was cool. <br />
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<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-6606450614111352792012-08-18T05:22:00.004-07:002012-08-18T05:23:42.695-07:00More Olympic Wrestling and Basketball - 10 AugustBy now the <a href="http://www.london2012.com/" target="_blank">Olympics</a> are over and we are all just sitting around in the heat, occasionally hugging our Wenlocks and cruising the ticket website for more <a href="http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/" target="_blank">Paralympics</a> tickets. Watching Olympic highlights on tv. Wasn't it all just great? Oh look, the opening ceremony is on again. I think the BBC could start up a whole channel devoted to the Olympics and we would all watch it. Sigh.<br />
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I got a few sets for the Paralympic last year. I am firmly of the opinion that watching people compete when they can see or have all their limbs is amazing, anybody doing it with less is miraculous. Plus, I wanted to get to see the Greenwich Park setup from the inside. So, we are taking Junior to the Paralympics. The tickets were also ridiculously cheap compared to the Olympics.<br />
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I am completely psyched for the equestrian and the wheelchair tennis. Plus we've got day passes to the Olympic Park itself, but I am not sure if we'll be able to get to see anything then. Will report on that here later.<br />
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We spent our last Olympic day on Friday at freestyle wrestling and basketball. In basketball, we saw the 2012 version of the <a href="http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/08/olympics-2012-day-17-usa-mens-hoops-leads-way-team-usa" target="_blank">Dream Team in action against Argentina</a>. Even though we were up in the gods at the North Greenwich Arena, our view was excellent. They had a kiss cam like the one that caught <a href="http://gawker.com/5926585/after-some-prodding-potus-and-flotus-share-tender-moment-on-kiss-cam" target="_blank">POTUS and FLOTUS</a> out recently, as well as a bongo-cam. However, that all happened far below us.<br />
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It was all very American, tho. I had my little flag. Mr had his foam hand that seemed to be the envy of all. I was particularly impressed with the troop that came on of double-dutch jump ropers, who did amazing things with their ropes, during one of the last breaks in play. I don't mind basketball much. It seems to move pretty quickly. The US won. <br />
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The freestyle wrestling was a bit chaotic because they were running three matches at once on the mats. Made it kind of hard to follow. The Georgians and Iranians were out in force as it seems to be big there.<br />
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Transport to and from these venues was easy, athough the cable cars were pretty packed. The queues moved fast. The shuttle buses moved us from the train station to North Greenwich. I miss the shuttle buses.<br />
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Oh well. It all seems so long ago. Roll on 29 August. I can figure what to do with my life after the Paralympics are over, ha ha. Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-67162379995703326452012-08-07T15:10:00.000-07:002012-08-07T15:10:34.135-07:00Greco-Roman Wrestling, ExCel - 5 AugustAlso, Hockey, Olympic Park – 6 August <br /> <br />I am going to lump these two together and also mention that we went to boxing on 29 August. Basically, I am so shattered by storming around the Olympic park yesterday, after two kiddy parties and a long stint at the allotment over the weekend, that I can’t even comprehend trying to write about the boxing. It was great, as I vaguely recall. It all seems so long ago. <br /> <br />Wrestling at ExCel. These were the tickets we bought because we thought nobody else would want them. But there were plenty of fans there from many countries. This sport seems to be Asia led – there was a wrestler from Krygystan, one from Belarus and the gold medal winner of one class was from Iran. The other gold medal winner, in the 74kg category, was <a href="http://www.london2012.com/wrestling/event/men-greco-roman-74kg/match=wrm174201/index.html" target="_blank">Roman Vlasov</a> from Russia. Mr wound up getting his autograph on the ticket as he very kindly came out where the spectators were leaving at ExCel. So it made his night. <br /> <br />I did feel like the Belarusian was a bit of a sore loser, as he lost out on the bronze medal and would neither shake anyone’s hand, nor stop weeping by the side of the mat. Finally his coach came along and collected him. I wanted to say, sometimes if you offer them an ice cream, they cheer up. But we liked the Belarusian wrestler because he was the first to do a flip when he won. Then they all did it. One of the gold medal winners practically did a whole routine. Mr got a photo or two. <br /> <br />We took the cable car over and back, and it’s a part of London I haven’t really roamed around much before. Lovely water views. Of course, it helped that they were parking the tall-masted ships in the ExCel Docklands basin. <br /> <br />Again, the organization was brilliant. Can’t fault LOCOG for how they’ve set it all up. And we realized just how amazing they were when we got up bright and early the next morning (bit too early, having stopped in a local pub, <a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/10/1073/Pilot_Inn/North_Greenwich" target="_blank">The Pilot Inn</a>, on the way home to catch Usain Bolt’s sprint) to go to the Olympic Park. <br /> <br />We took the advice to get off at West Ham instead of Stratford, and were rewarded with a pleasant enough 20-minute walk to the park. Then, once we got there, the steward said, you have another 20 minutes to go to Riverside Stadium. Oh. On we trudged, past the lovely <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/gardening/article-2179417/How-soggy-summer-help-Olympic-Stadiums-wildflower-meadows-ribbon-gold.html" target="_blank">wildflower meadows</a> (not sure why when I let the weeds go on the allotment, they don’t get as picturesque as this, ha ha) and the massive temporary structures. <br /> <br />I would like to say the Americans covered themselves in glory playing hockey (or field hockey, as we call it in the States), but they didn’t. Mr joked that perhaps they were confused and were waiting for a puck. South Africa took the opportunity to rout the Yanks and stormed ahead. Final score was 7-0. A killing. <br /> <br />At least the weather held and we had a nice woman next to us who explained the scoring and rules with the hockey. Never played it myself. We left the arena and wandered around a bit, and then we espied some US fans in those <a href="http://www.morphsuits.co.uk/" target="_blank">morphsuits</a>. Took a photo and then realized we were surrounded by most of the losing women’s hockey team. Mr was delighted and got two of their autographs, plus one from the winning South African team. <br /> <br />We planned to go to the world’s largest <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/12/olympic-park-overthrow-dictatorchip" target="_blank">McDonalds</a> for lunch, breaking my personal rule of never eating there, but the queue was so huge that we gave up and waded back through the throngs to the fish and chip stand we had passed on the way. <br /> <br />Note on the crowds: I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. And yet it all ran so smoothly. Many kudos to the Olympic volunteers. <br /> <br />So, we lined up for fish and chips, and Gavin said quietly, There’s <a href="http://www.myspace.com/daraobriain" target="_blank">Dara O Briain</a>. I said, Where? And whipped around looking for him in the crowd. He was right behind us in the line. Oops. So we chatted a bit and he signed Mr’s autograph magazine of the Olympic Day 10. He has gone to see the water polo and something else. Apparently the Irish didn’t do so well. <br /> <br />He was recognized more than once as he is about Mr’s height (6 foot 4 or so) and he is on the tv over here a fair bit. He seemed quite pleasant about it all, which was nice. He was also having lunch with one of the panelists from Mock the Week. Is that allowed? Never mind. <br /> <br />We parted ways when he went for the cod while we went towards haddock. Mr took a photo of the back of his head at the counter. I suggested that crossed the line into stalkerdom. Gavin was wondering why he wasn’t in the seafood and champagne building instead of the chippy line. I said, well, believe it or not, he’s probably a real person like us and enjoys a good plate of <a href="http://www.federationoffishfriers.co.uk/" target="_blank">fish n chips</a>. <br /> <br />And they were very good. Expensive, but not crazy, and very quality. I had mushy peas too. Pushed the boat out, as they say over here. <br /> <br />Then, it was another queue for the Olympics souvenir shop. That was only about a 10 minute wait. And what delights! Wenlock was there (we had seen him in East Greenwich on Saturday) hugging and shaking hands, and Visa also had some captive athletes who were signing these brochures and getting photos taken. Both were huge Scandinavians. I felt very small next to them and Mr. <br /> <br />Off home we went. The short train ride home was a relief. So many people! I went to bed early. No Olympics until Friday now. I need the days to rest.<br />
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Marks out of 10: 9. It is the Olympics after all and the food was better than expected. Loved the flowers too. <br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-44222401459015051342012-08-02T12:49:00.000-07:002012-08-03T01:26:49.124-07:00The Olympics - 10m womens & mens shooting at Woolwich, 28 JulyThe Olympics are on here in London and luckily for us, Mr and I have snaffled some tickets. The funny thing is, you apply for them so far in advance, we barely remembered what we were scheduled to go to. Now that they are here, they have exceeded our expectations.<br />
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I think it's kind of embarrassing to gush, but the Olympic venues are fab, the traffic is light, all the volunteers are so nice, and well, it's like living in an alternate universe London. Where people help you if you're lost and are generally jolly. Where lots of things are painted in very bright colours, and where one-eyed cyclops dance around for your amusement. <br />
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On Saturday, we left Junior Gig in the capable hands of our babysitter Lizzy, and headed off to Woolwich on the bus. We didn't do the 8:15 start, as I'm not really a morning person. Chatted with the squaddies on security, and went into the grounds.<br />
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I thought the venue would've incorporated a historical building or two, but the site instead had these cool cubes as buildings. Big white marshmallows with different coloured spots. We looked around a bit and then joined the large queue forming outside the finals building. The biggest one with red spots.<br />
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Got inside, and then we waited. They shows these informational videos about the sport you're about to watch, which is helpful. I had no idea about shooting. Then a brass band came on, and then <a href="https://mascot-games.london2012.com/" target="_blank">Wenlock</a> the mascot did a bit of soft shuffle to the music. Luckily for me, the 10M air pistol is not a loud gun. Pop pop pop. I had brought some earplugs, which Mr mocked me for.<br />
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The Chinese contestant <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18904065" target="_blank">Guo Wenjun</a> won, and we watched as they took away the shooting range, and put up the medal podium. Aw. It was nice to see. I always think of how proud their mums must be. It was also the first medal of the entire London Olympics. How cool is that? <br />
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There was a Chinese fan contingent and they went a bit mental, waving their giant flag and jumping up and down. Mr took a photo of them.<br />
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After the final we had a coffee and watched men shoot coloured clay things into dust while we ate our sarnies, during the break. Then, it was back to the queue, where the band came along and played for us while we read our papers. Got back into the cube, where we watched men shoot. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1533068614">South Korea</a><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18910027" target="_blank"> </a>won. <br />
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When it was done, Wenlock shuffled forlornly without the band to accompany him while we waited for the medal stand to be put up. It seemed whenever he was done, he would consult with a nearby minder. Nod, and then do a little more softshoeing. Poor fella. The men seemed to be worse shots, but Mr pointed out that they did it one-handed while the women did it with both hands. <br />
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Marks out of 10: 8, particularly for the dancing mascotMrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-89667658418852398682012-07-18T14:38:00.002-07:002012-07-18T14:39:36.640-07:00Paloma Faith, Somerset House - 18 JulyThis will be my last gig post for several weeks, due to the Olympics. I'll try and post about them too. But what a concert to go out on. <a href="http://www.palomafaith.com/gb/home/">Paloma Faith</a>! I forget what she did in a former life, busker or something, but she is both a gifted singer and a real crowd pleaser. She seems to instinctively know what to say to the audience. By the end of it we were all eating out of her hand, singing along and clapping. I danced most of the night. A good performance. She veers from an olde timey vaudvillan to 40s dame to modern singer in her demeanour and her banter. It's fun to try and keep up.<br />
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Her opening act was her former guitarist, which was eh. A couple of kind of forgettable songs, but he was enthusiastic and had a great hairstyle. He came on later to join her for "Stone Cold Sober" and she joked that he had graduated with a 2.1 from the University of Paloma. We like it when they bring on the support act.<br />
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Interestingly, a song that didn't make the current album (which is more maudlin than her first one) she used to introduce the band, "Cellulite". Yep, we sang along to that one as she waggled her un-cellulitely legs at us, hoiking up her elegant floor length ballgown to do so. We were further back than with Anna Calvi because this show was sold out, but at least it didn't rain much.<br />
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Mr and I did a Tim the plumber this time, because the queues were long for the bar - we bought two drinks each. Sorted us out nicely for the duration and we stuck the other ones in our pockets like winos. Nice!<br />
Let's see - "Freedom" was a highlight too, where she invited members of the audience up to dance with her. Mr opined that there were only females up there (and a lone man who galloped across the back of the stage before he was dragged off) because the security people are blokes. I said it was because they didn't want men pawing at her, so they put women up there who would behave themselves and just dance around. Which they duly did. What fun.<br />
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Ooh, and there was confetti during the song. Loovely. We were encouraged to clap as "clapping is the currency" for the encore, which we duly did. Anything for you, Paloma. She also mentioned that we helped her by buying her album so she doesn't have to do a 9-to-5 job. I couldn't imagine a less likely office mate. She'd get fired anyway for chewing your ear off and then bunking off early. She'd never do the tea round. No, she has to be on stage. I'll do the 9-to-5 to pay for the tickets. I am still humming "You want the truth or something beautiful" this morning.<br />
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PS- Mr wound up talking to the support act, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/seyeadelekan" target="_blank">Seye</a>. Got his autograph!<br />
Marks out of 10: 9, because we'd give Paloma anything, really. <br />
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<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-17695890797367590512012-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:002012-07-15T08:48:30.914-07:00Anna Calvi, Somerset House - 12 JulyThis venue is great if it's not raining. Actually, it was raining and still fairly cool. They had different coloured lights on the walls and we stood in the courtyard. The artistes were under cover. The opening act was pretty good. Never heard of them myself but Mr had - <a href="http://coldspecks.com/" target="_blank">Cold Specks</a>. They were quite listenable, and the lead singer kept apologizing about the rain. She has a lovely bluesy voice. We saw the bulk of this set and enjoyed the cider. Also the sight of people squabbling over umbrellas in front of them. Some people get a bit worked up about it all. <br />
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<a href="http://annacalvi.com/" target="_blank">Anna Calvi</a> came on quite late after CS had left the stage. Or maybe it just seemed a late because it started raining hard. Anyway, we sat there waiting until about 2145 and then Anna arrived, in full matador outfit. I wasn't crazy about her sound when we saw her indoors last year, but she does know her way around a guitar and is just amazing, really. Very talented. Somerset House worked better for this musician.<br />
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She played Jezebel, she riffed ala Jimmy Hendrix and she had a cool backdrop with an eclipse. But it dumped down and Mr grumbled that she waited for three songs to apologize for the rain. Lucky for us she only has one album out so we were done and dusted by 2245. My fingers were wrinkly and it was time to go home and dry off. <br />
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Marks out of 10: 7. Would've been higher but the rain. The incessant rain...Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-14336977215974367332012-07-09T08:14:00.000-07:002012-07-09T08:18:14.719-07:00Marina & the Diamonds, Tabernacle, Notting Hill - June 26<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_134177930763137">
Marina and the
Diamonds was rearranged from May due to Marina's voice
going, Tabernacle, Notting Hill</div>
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<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_1341779307631445">
Mr took Tim to this
one, on account of Mrs not being a big fan. Had an early start, so
despite our best efforts and getting a taxi from Notting Hill tube to
the venue, we missed the first song. Tim was of course, buying a double
round of strong lager. It was incredibly hot inside the tiny church.
Allegedly holds 500 people, but there can't have been more than 350 and
it was packed.</div>
<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_13417793076311656">
</div>
<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_13417793076311658">
The stage
was made out as a living room with the now standard (haha) standard lamp
that every female singer worth their salt seems to have these days –
Adele had em, Paloma Faith had em and now Marina has them, alongside her old
style TV and chaise longue. Fair play, she had made an effort. A great
voice, she sang a mix of songs from both her albums, including "I am
not a robot" and recent hit Primadona. With a couple of costume changes
and masquerading as her Ziggy style Electra Heart alter ego, she made a
real effort and it was a mighty fine show. Although as Mr was with Tim,
alcohol played a part.</div>
<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_13417793076313696">
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<div id="yiv925662129yui_3_2_0_15_13417793076313698">
The gig
having started at 8.30, was all over by 9.45, and it being a small
venue, a queue soon began to form of very keen fans hoping to get a
photo and an autograph of Marina. As there was still lager to be drunk, they stayed and chatted with mad German lady who had come over for 3 gigs
in 5 days, overheard a chap who was boasting at having set aside £450
for this gig, no matter what and was trying to buy a girl a t shirt to
get signed, with the promise that "I won't try and touch you up or
anything". Anyway, the band passed by, the bouncers started looming and
a big fella ushered us all into single file before threatening to eject
anyone who yelped or shouted. At this, mr £450 man yelped and was
promptly evicted. With his £450. Marina came out and wafted down the
line. Tim and Mt both got her autograph on their tickets and a couple of
fuzzy photos of Mr looming above
everyone. After that, they finished their lager and off they went.</div>
<div>
</div>
Overall rating 8/10, but 2/10 for the bouncers.Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-38473300417332647022012-07-08T08:50:00.001-07:002012-07-09T08:15:47.880-07:00Laura Marling, Royal Albert Hall - July 7Ah, the <a href="http://www.royalalberthall.com/" target="_blank">Royal Albert Hall</a>! If you live in the UK you've seen it a lot on telly, particularly for the Proms. It looks huge, but in person it's a more intimate venue you would've thought. <a href="http://www.lauramarling.com/" target="_blank">Laura Marling</a>, a plucky British guitarist, quite sensibly put herself and her band right in the centre of the venue, below those funny mushroom things they've stuck on the ceiling to sort the acoustics out. She didn't sell it out but it didn't matter in the end.<br />
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She had no support act and did her show in two parts, with an intermission for Mr to go off and get me a rather cool concert t-shirt that had the date and a really artsy drawing of the venue. Plus a poster for himself. Now, Jack White did the same thing with his show at the Apollo last week, and I have to say it's no bad thing. She did get through 21 songs and it gave us all an opportunity to swivel out of our chairs (the RAH has swivel chairs, how posh!) and go visit concessions. Mr thought the hall was under-resourced in the area of male toilets, which is an unusual complaint. The ladies were good.<br />
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Her banter for the first half was a bit awful but the songs largely made up for it, and her early nerves settled down as the night progressed. All the shouting from the audience was largely appreciative - we love you, marry me... Her band is very well coordinated after two years of touring, and seemed to require less tuning than she did with her acoustic guitar. Their silly facts about the RAH were a highlight of the second half. I liked the model of the Royal Albert Hall the cellist and pianist worked on together. Appeared to be partly made out of toilet rolls.<br />
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She says she's going to take a break for awhile, but this will give us all an opportunity to listen to her back catalogue. It's quite an excellent way to end a tour. The Royal Albert Hall. Laura Marling said she was terrified when she got on stage, but by the end of the night she and the venue were a perfect fit. <br />
<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-19838619044372193522012-07-04T02:38:00.005-07:002012-07-04T02:42:33.184-07:00The Tallest Man on Earth, Rough Trade East - July 2Mr and Gig Junior went to a free outing on Monday night, to see <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thetallestmanonearth" target="_blank">The Tallest Man on Earth</a> at <a href="http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/rough-trade-london-2" target="_blank">Rough Trade Records East</a>. This is a fairly common event for the boys and they bring back bagels, as RTE is located near the 24-hour bagel place that is probably the only decent place to get them in this city. At any rate, Mr reports back that The Tallest Man wasn't as billed and in fact seemed considerably shorter than him (he is quite tall). Gig Jr seemed more interested in the bagel and the train ride. <br />
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I asked about the music and apparently they were so engrossed in playing Connect 4, they didn't actually listen to the man play. But they purchased his album on vinyl.Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-35475183762435650752012-06-25T03:39:00.000-07:002012-07-09T08:18:38.677-07:00Jack White w/First Aid Kit, Hammersmith Apollo - June 22I have a confession - I usually avoid the Hammersmith Apollo, due to one very horrible Florence & the Machine gig where I had to stand up at the back of the balcony. It was hot and so awful I left before the encore and before I passed out from the heat. I saw nothing except people's backsides. But I do love the <a href="http://www.whitestripes.net/" target="_blank">White Stripes</a> and so off we went to Jack White on Friday night.<br />
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First, we met up with Tim the plumber and got on the train. Tim's a great guy, but he enjoys his lager. Mr and I swore blind we would not be sucked into Tim's tricks of buying loads of beer/cider during a concert. Last time that happened, Tim and I wound up prancing around like fools outside Heaven with <a href="http://www.erinsmodelsanctuary.com/erin-oconnor/" target="_blank">Erin O'Connor</a> and the lead singer of the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/alpinesmusic" target="_blank">Alpines</a>. I kept calling Erin, Erin Brokovich.<br />
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I was so tiddly I took a photo of Tim and Erin with her head cut off. Mr was inside trying to get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Land" target="_blank">Oh Land</a>'s autograph. They ran off just as he got outside. Never mind. But the problem is that if you do that on a school night, or any other night where you have to get up with a small child the next day, it's not good.<br />
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So, here we are at the Apollo, and Tim goes off for the first round, as I settle into my balcony seat. Having a seat is key at the Apollo. Do not bother with the standing tickets they sell. <a href="http://www.thisisfirstaidkit.com/" target="_blank">First Aid Kit</a> are on, and sounding good, playing between the sheeted instruments for Jack's set. We catch two songs, the lion's roar one and the one where they yell "Fire!" and on the album is a duet with a guy who sounds like a young Bob Dylan. I luv this album myself.<br />
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FAK seem a bit shy - the two of them have long hair and they look like twin Cousin Its from the Addams family up there, playing away. Sometimes I think musicians being shy is just the most bizarre thing. Aren't you supposed to be performers? But the noise the two hairy ones were emanating was excellent. They leave to loud applause<br />
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Then, after a decent interval, Jack White and his 6 woman band come on. The ladies were dressed like Charlene Tilton from Dallas. Now, Mr White is a bit of a hyper performer. He cannot stand still. He prowls around the stage like a 5-year old stuck indoors. He is also quite multi-talented - he can do a guitar, he can play the piano. I like guys like this. <br />
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He blasts through a large selection of stuff he has written since Meg left the band. Some of it is country. Jack has a fondness for country, as his collaborations with Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams have proved. Me, I am not so crazy about it and I don't recognise most of it. This is alleviated somewhat by Tim's constant watering of Mr and I with alcohol. <br />
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And Jack seems a bit lost, despite his running around. And then I figure it out, after the interval where he and his band (he also apparently has a six-man band that he plays with too, on alternating dates) trundle off for a drink. This might be down to the cider I had ingested, but here's my theory:<br />
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Jack is missing Meg. Meg, the woman who spent concerts beating up the drums like she was the Cadbury's Gorilla. The one who would do a song and howl into the microphone. Meg, the one who is apparently suffering from stage fright and no longer will tour.<br />
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Poor Jack. He did his best. The female drummer tried to thump the drums like Meg used to do, but she wasn't using her time behind the skins as therapy like Meg did. So, the audience stayed seated until the end when he played "7 Nations" and the Doorbell song. I think the last one was directly aimed at Meg. When ya gonna ring it, Meg?<br />
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Marks out of 10: 7, because by God Jack tries.<br />
The Apollo's still not my favourite venue though. It does get hot up in the balcony. <br />
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<br />Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3530232.post-77815685633199316292012-06-21T09:41:00.001-07:002012-07-04T02:39:15.571-07:00Best Coast, Shepherd's Bush Empire - June 20Sorry for any lack of coherence in this blog. I have taken over an old one and revamped it a bit. I find we see a lot of gigs and I forget all about them, so this seems to me a pretty good way to remember them. And share my unofficial opinion on them. You are free to disagree. <br />
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Last night, Mr and I went to see <a href="http://www.bestcoast.us/" target="_blank">Best Coast</a>, a California duo. They were playing at Shepherd's Bush Empire in West London. Truthfully, although the groundlings were enthusiastic downstairs, the band seemed a little bit lost and maybe would've been better at Bush Hall, a smaller venue nearby. It was a lot of guitar and kind of drowned out what turned out to be quite a lovely voice on Bethany Cosentino. Bit of a shame, really. The covers she did at the end were the strongest part, because then you heard what notes she could hit.<br />
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I also liked the bear hugging the state logo on their t-shirts, but they didn't have my size. Sometimes, the most 'meh' kind of bands come up with really good graphics. We went to a concert with <a href="http://www.monatheband.com/music.php" target="_blank">Mona</a> last year, a boy guitar band, at Koko. I bought a t-shirt because it was pretty cool looking. I get more compliments on it. Can I remember any of their songs? Noooo.<br />
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I also like it when bands get their support acts on, which Best Coast did at the end. The audience skewed young, but then again, unless I'm at a Squeeze or Neil Diamond show, we're often the oldest ones in the room. Overall, an enjoyable muscial experience.<br />
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Marks out of 10: 6. For the covers, really.Mrshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02723930081784626756noreply@blogger.com